Here’s an odd little enclave that you rarely hear about yet is smack dab on one of the most important geopolitcal points on the face of the planet.
According to my research, it’s 10 million people, the climate is very very nice, and since 1973 has been democratic.
In addition, Portugal ONCE held a worldwide empire thanks to the navigational prowess of the Portuguese nation, an empire that since is no more.
Who has been there, and can tell me all they can about this what seems to be highly overrated little country? What are the people like? Is the scenery is as beautiful as it looks in the photos? How well off are the Portuguese folk?
Was anyone there during the dictatorship? Why didn’t Franco just take over the country?
Okay, I’ll be the first “expert” till someone else shows up. It’s quite beautiful, with varied terrain, like the rest of Iberia. It has some great resort beaches to the south, some great surf beaches on the Atlantic coast, and Lisbon is a happening, cheap city. It reminded me of San Francisco (not the cheapness, but the happeningness, plus some of the terrain and a very Golden Gate-ish bridge).
How is it over-rated? You hardly ever hear anything about Portugal. It doesn’t have the artistic or historical treasures of Spain, France, Italy or England, so it doesn’t attract as much tourism. However, the economy is stronger than most eastern European countries. They seem to get along fine.
Why didn’t Franco just take it over? Spain never had a very strong army under Franco. Spain also had some U.S. military bases for awhile. I’m sure part of the U.S.-Spanish agreement was that he would not attempt to take over any new territory. I think he decided to concentrate on keeping hold of what he did have. Plus, he was determined to create a unified “Spanish” culture, meaning eliminating the Galician, Catalan and Basque sub-cultures of Spain. Already a difficult enough task (at which he failed, gladly) I doubt he’d want to add Portugal into that.
One tiny point on its defences - Portugal has historically had a very strong relationship with the UK. It may have been that Franco wasn’t sure how the UK would react to an invasion of Portugal.
Having grown up in a predominently Portuguese town in southeastern Connecticut, I have been submerged in their culture my whole life. There is a very large population of Portuguese in southeastern Connecticut and Rhode Island. They love God - predominently RC- they love figh and fishing, and soccer. Actually, God/Soccer/Fish is pretty accurate line of sight.
As for Franco, if memory serves when spain was under Franco they were in a civil war right???
We had four wonderful days in Lisbon last September and we are off for a late winter sun holiday to the Algarve in March. This southern coastal strip is a great favourite with Brits all year round. One group who like it are golfers. There are nearly a hundred courses along this coast and for those who want to play in the winter this is the ideal spot. I have read about the bad driving ( it’s pretty hectic in Lisbon ) so , with some trepidation I have rented a car . So wish me luck!.
I’m far from an expert, but I had there observations.
I never knew that Lisbon was hilly. How often do people in the US ever see anything of Portugal.
Many restaurants will give you seconds of side dishes with dinner. That was cool.
Hi Opal
Portugal’s trains use the same gauge as the rest of Europe. However, Spain uses a wider gauge. So when you take a train from Portugal into Spain, you have to get off and get on a different one.
But why does Portugal use the same gauge as the rest of Europe when the only other European country it borders doesn’t?
Speaking English is more useful in Portugal than speaking Spanish by a wide margin. Many people in Portugal will understand English, but if you speak Spanish you might as well be from Mars.
You can go see English-language films without any problems because the Portuguese use subtitles, unlike the Spanish who dub their films.
It was ages ago, but I have very fond memories of Interrailing to Portugal.
People were amazingly friendly, the meals - especially seafood - and wine (and of course, the port) truly excellent as well as extremely affordable. I stayed away from the south coast, but Lisbon and Oporto are amazing cities. There’s history everywhere.
So far, it’s the only place where someone who tried to sell me marijuana (I declined) took initiative to help me out with the intricacies of the local bus system, getting me safely to a good campsite. Now, that’s the correct attitude for someone in a service industry! Discovering that the local beauties liked the Scandinavian look didn’t exactly hurt my impression of the country, either.
Scenery, cuisine, wine, history. Yup. Great place.
I loved Portugal (week there, dang, probably 20 years ago). The climate and terrain reminded me of Southern California, except they have these little, ancient towers all up and down the coast for protection. Didn’t make it to Fatima, which continues to be a regret. I still wear a sweater I bought there – got a couple of nice folk art type souvenirs.
I apologize to our Portuguese readers; I of course meant to say that Portugal was a very UNDERRATED country that you never hear about.
Part of the reason may be that IIRC, Portugal had nothing to do with either World War.
Why don’t we hear more about Portugal in the news? It seems the last time this country ever made news was in the 70s when it was involved in it’s former colony of Angola.
Portugal was ( and probably still is to a lesser extent ) the poor relation of western Europe. The population was ill-educated mainly due to the dictator Salazar who decreed that much of the population should only receive primary education because they worked on the land. Things are much better now. Since joining the EU the country’s prosperity has greatly increased , the population are more educated and the difference between it and the rest of western Europe has diminished.
In 1998 Lisbon hosted Expo 98 which meant a lot of money was spent on the city. The metro system was extended. Run- down land to the east of the city was used for the Expo site and this has given that part of the city a new lease of life with many of the buildings ( including Europe’s largest aquarium ) still in use today. Although it has meant blighting some of the scenery, mass tourism , mainly from northern Europe , means that much foreign money has flooded into the country to add to the prosperity.
Absinthe is mostly associated with France, not Portugal (although very popular in the Czech Republic, for some reason). Portugal is famous for wine and port, and a cherry spirit called ginjinha.
And don’t forget those fabulous custard tarts in Lisbon. The pastry shops that bake these all have their own secret recipes. The most famous shop is located in Belem. If you like cod the Portugese are supposed to have 365 ways of serving dishes made from dreid cod.
I felt bad for hating custard in Lisbon. Couldn’t bring myself to mention it. Some of the beers there are excellent, particularly the dark ones, and the food there was as good as any city I’ve eaten in. The city definitely seemed to have more than its fair share of run-down, shockingly badly kept areas close to the centre; even moreso than London or other European cities I’ve been to. The huge bridge was quite scary, too, even from below.
Well, they were fairly ideologically similar, so it was a bit unnecesary. I recommend Saramago’s novel The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis for an insight into Portugeuse-Spanish relations at the time of the Civil War.
I’ve been taken to that custard tart shop in Belem, but I have to admit I’m broadly with Crusoe on the issue. Didn’t hate it, but couldn’t quite see what the fuss was about. As for “run-down, shockingly badly kept areas”, we’ve stayed with friends in the Alfama and, while I generally liked it, the population density was astonishing by London standards. If the neighbours three doors down put on the telly, you know what they’re watching.
To be a bit more positive, Lisbon is up there with Edinburgh as the greatest site for a European capital. A very naturally beautiful city. With excellent nightlife. Plus lots of interesting things to see. And while I’m not into that sort of thing as a rule, I was impressed by the aquarium Rayne Man mentions.